Factory resetting an iPhone

The process is simple, but searching online for reset steps reveals that users run into a common problem: Tapping on Erase All Content And Settings does nothing. You can thank Apple's security team for that—if Find My iPhone is turned on (which is highly recommended) iOS won't allow the device to reset, preventing a thief from covering their tracks.

In order to do a complete wipe of your iPhone you need to first disable Find My iPhone. This is most easily done by signing out of your Apple ID, which you can do in the Settings app.

When you open Settings you'll see the screen shown in Figure A.

Figure A

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Tap on your name at the top of the menu to open the Apple ID screen (Figure B).

Figure B

Image: Brandon Vigliarolo/TechRepublic

Scroll to the bottom of the Apple ID page and tap Sign Out. You'll have to enter your password to do so, and then you'll be asked if you want to save a copy of data associated with your Apple ID on the device. Since you're wiping it there's no need to save it, so just tap Sign Out (Figure C).

Figure C

Image: Brandon Vigliarolo/TechRepublic

Once it's done cleaning up your Apple ID data, iOS will send you back to the settings screen, albeit without your name at the top (Figure D).

Figure D

Image: Brandon Vigliarolo/TechRepublic

Scroll down to General, tap on it, and then scroll to the bottom of that menu, where you'll see Reset (Figure E).

Figure E

Image: Brandon Vigliarolo/TechRepublic

Tapping on Reset will bring you to the screen shown in Figure F. Choose the second option, Erase All Content And Settings (if it doesn't do anything you're still signed in to an Apple ID that has Find My iPhone active).

Figure F

Image: Brandon Vigliarolo/TechRepublic

Once you input your passcode you'll see the screen shown in Figure G. Tap it and it will reappear to confirm you really want to wipe your device. Confirm by tapping again, and the iPhone will wipe itself.

Figure G

Image: Brandon Vigliarolo/TechRepublic

When the factory reset is complete, the iPhone will reboot to the Hello screen any new iPhone owner is familiar with. The device can be powered down at this point without having to worry about any user data being left behind.